We haven’t written much about the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research, but it’s worth keeping an eye on this five-year-old hybrid grantmaker and venture funder as it raises its profile in the field of cancer research, both in the U.S. and internationally.
Recently, the foundation has been in the news as a key supporter of Cancer Grand Challenges, an international research initiative backed by the NIH’s National Cancer Institute (NCI) and the U.K.-based charity Cancer Research UK, the world’s largest independent cancer research supporter.
Cancer Research UK created the Cancer Grand Challenges program in 2015. The idea is to fund international research teams looking to solve tough scientific and medical challenges common across the spectrum of different kinds of cancer. The NIH’s National Cancer Institute joined Cancer Research UK to back the program in 2020. The Mark Foundation is among a handful of private funders and cancer research organizations that have also since partnered to help fund the initiative.
According to Ryan Schoenfeld, the foundation’s CEO, the decision to get onboard stemmed from the realization, increasingly common among funders in science and health, that important progress will require vastly scaled-up forms of cooperative team research that span disciplines, institutions and even countries.
“In going after the biggest unsolved problems in cancer today, we thought it needs a team approach,” Schoenfeld said. “But we didn’t really have an infrastructure to do a global competitive call for proposals of this magnitude. The Cancer Grand Challenges program was very appealing in that it was open globally to teams.”
Based out of New York City, the Mark Foundation was established and initially funded by Alexander Knaster, who made his fortune in investment management and hedge funds. Knaster named the Mark Foundation in memory of his late father, Mark Knaster, who died of cancer in 2014.
Alex Knaster was born in Russia and immigrated to the U.S. at age 16 with his family, in time becoming an American citizen. He earned an undergraduate degree in engineering from Carnegie Mellon University and an MBA from Harvard Business School, and eventually returned to Russia as CEO of the Russian branch of Credit Suisse Boston. Knaster went on to become CEO of Alfa-Bank, which was established by Russian tycoon and noted oligarch Mikhail Fridman. He currently heads Pamplona Capital Management, which he founded in 2004.
In addition to the Mark Foundation, Knaster supports other education and healthcare-focused charities, and has been known to give to his alma maters, Carnegie Mellon and Harvard Business School. Knaster is also a co-founder of the Genesis Philanthropy Group, which supports Jewish causes around the world. He now has a home in the U.K.
In its first five years, the Mark Foundation has made about $180 million in research grants and about $25 million in venture investments in cancer research startups. But Schoenfeld said the foundation is poised to accelerate its grantmaking, partly because of a massive new $500 million funding commitment from Knaster, and partly based on contributions by other individual donors. According to the foundation, Knaster’s total dollar commitment to its work has exceeded $650 million.
The foundation first contributed to Cancer Grand Challenges in 2019, providing £10 million to a Grand Challenge research team called “Specificancer” that has been investigating why certain gene mutations only cause cancer in specific parts of the body and not others. This month, the Mark Foundation made a second £10 million commitment to support another international cancer research team, NexTGen, which is seeking to develop novel therapies to target unique features in solid tumors in children.
“There are really no other programs at this scale that tackle cancer research challenges in this way — that break down borders and put together teams, across the globe,” Schoenfeld said.
In addition to its traditional grants to advance cancer science, treatment, diagnostics and more, the Mark Foundation also makes venture investments in young companies treading the costly and difficult path of turning drug candidates and other ideas into real-world treatments and therapies. The foundation has a growing portfolio of investments in oncology companies developing novel therapeutics and diagnostics.
“Often, the best path for a scientific breakthrough to reach patients at scale will be through a commercialization effort,” Schoenfeld said. Drawing on its experience investing in companies, the foundation is in a position to advise young companies as they commercialize their ideas and products. The Mark Foundation redeploys any returns from its startup investments back into its core cancer research mission.
Sometimes, the Mark Foundation’s stake in the companies it backs is not so large, Schoenfeld said, but can nevertheless be catalytic in attracting other investors. “To the extent that our investment dollars and activities can help new ventures that are trying to realize the potential of discoveries made with our grants, we can help encourage other investors to get into the pool.”
Going forward, the Mark Foundation will be in a strong position to expand its reach — note that additional half-billion from Knaster. Schoenfeld has cited multiple areas of focus for the foundation’s efforts, including metastasis, immuno-oncology, artificial intelligence and drug discovery. As it grows its venture funding alongside its traditional grantmaking, we’ll no doubt be seeing a lot more of the Mark Foundation for Cancer Research in the years to come.